Shekhar Suman recalls the electric moment he interviewed Bal Thackeray: 'That man had an aura about him'

Fourteen years after stepping away from late-night television, veteran host Shekhar Suman is back, and he's already making headlines. His new YouTube show 'Shekhar Tonite' debuted on May 15 with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari as its first guest, and during the conversation, the actor revisited one of the most memorable moments from his iconic 1997 show 'Movers and Shakers', a 3 AM phone call from Bal Thackeray that led to a jaw-dropping on-air exchange.Shekhar Suman recalled on the show how a late-night call from the Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray turned into one of the most electrifying interviews of his career. During the candid conversation with Nitin Gadkari, Suman recalled, "Balasaheb Thackeray had once called me at 3 am, complimenting me about some interview I had done. I asked him if he loved the show. Would he come on it? He accepted, and we shot the very next day. Those were goosebumps moments interviewing him; that man had an aura about him. I remember looking into his eyes and asking, 'Are you a fascist?' And he replied, 'Yes, I'm a fascist because India needs one.' Wow. That was the moment we all clapped, and I said, 'This is the man who has the gumption to say something like that.'"In a separate conversation with IANS recently, Shekhar had also shared a lighter moment that followed the interview.He recalled, "After doing the interview, he said, 'It was a lot of fun, do one more,' so I said, 'Sir, we don't have another costume.' He replied, 'Let's do it in this.' So that is a very memorable moment for me."'Shekhar Tonite' marks Shekhar Suman's return to a format he pioneered in India with 'Movers and Shakers', which debuted in 1997 and gave the country its first desi late-night talk show experience. The new show is streaming on YouTube.On the acting front, he was last seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's show 'Heeramand: The Diamond Bazaar'. The show premiered on Netflix in May 2024.